IMO it (a bit of fermentation) adds a bit more strength to the dough before balling.

This is kind of part II of my previous post.

With pizzas I make at home, I like the same qualities that Chau described, but not too much, so I tend to let my NY dough rest for 15 or 30 minutes before scaling and rounding. Seems like if I don't do that, even with All Trumps flour, my dough ends up kinda flat and more extensible than I really want. (And I tend to use a lower hydration than most members.)

You can't get away with doing that in a pizzeria, for tons of reasons. Things I can think of right away include mass effect, excess friction heat, room temperature fluctuations, the extra time it takes a large batch of dough balls to cool in a walk-in compared to the time it takes two or three dough balls to cool in a fridge, etc.

Disclaimer: Don't necessarily believe anything I say here. My brain ain't quite right anymore (unless it is). If I come off as rude or argumentative, that's probably not my intention. Rather, that's just me being honest, to myself and everyone else; partly because I don't have enough time left to BS either you or myself. If you are offended by anything I say, it's probably because you think lying to people (to be "polite") is a good idea. I don't.

One really great lesson that's just begging for you to learn right now, Philip, is the fact that nothing anyone says here is necessarily the absolute truth. You have at least four very knowledgeable pizzamakers telling you different things on this page, and I'm sure it's overwhelming sometimes, but no one is wrong. I feel comfortable saying the most knowledgeable people on these boards are much more knowledgeable than almost every pizzeria owner out there. Sometimes one person's valuable information conflicts with other people's valuable information, but it's still all good information. People share their ideas with you, and you get to decide whose ideas provide the best guidance for you.

Scott is the NY style guru around here. Everyone knows that. Still, sometimes we disagree with him, and sometimes we might be a little more right than he is. But much more often than not, Scott is right. And I'll tell you right now that you should trust what Scott says before you trust what I say. Also, Chau's counter to what I said a few posts back might end up changing my whole freaking pizza philosophy. It probably won't, but I remain open to the possibility that it could. (You too, Craig.)

Disclaimer: Don't necessarily believe anything I say here. My brain ain't quite right anymore (unless it is). If I come off as rude or argumentative, that's probably not my intention. Rather, that's just me being honest, to myself and everyone else; partly because I don't have enough time left to BS either you or myself. If you are offended by anything I say, it's probably because you think lying to people (to be "polite") is a good idea. I don't.

There are pizza operators who let their dough rest or bench rise before dividing and going to the cooler. Evelyn Slomon discussed this approach several years ago at Reply 455 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,576.msg28773/topicseen.html#msg28773. Certainly, pizza operators could eliminate this step by using less yeast, or a lower finished dough temperature (by using cooler water), or even a combination of both, but these are not the sorts of things that most pizza operators do, or even know how to do in most cases. The advice that is most often given to professionals is to make and manage the dough as Ryan says. Even then, one has to work fast to get the dough balls divided, scaled and balled and into the cooler as fast as possible. In fact, Tom Lehmann, whose entire career has been devoted to the needs of professional pizza operators, and who knows the drill inside and out, sets the time to accomplish the above steps at 20 minutes (see item 9 at Reply 18 at http://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php/topic,7499.msg64554/topicseen.html#msg64554. If that time is extended for any reason, Tom knows that that will make it harder for the dough balls to cool down uniformly (he often expresses the concern that the dough balls will "blow") and that it will affect the end time when the dough balls need to be used.

In a home setting, there are few limitations as to what can be done. However, I actually think that it is harder to make pizza dough in a home environment than in a commercial environment. In a commercial environment, everything has to be done to be sure that the dough balls are ready by certain times on the clock and that they are of consistent, reproducible quality. It is a "no excuses" environment. In a home setting, there are far more variables that can conspire to defeat what you want or are trying to do. For most mishaps or failures in a home setting, there might be disappointments, but there usually are no penalties.

One really great lesson that's just begging for you to learn right now, Philip, is the fact that nothing anyone says here is necessarily the absolute truth. You have at least four very knowledgeable pizzamakers telling you different things on this page, and I'm sure it's overwhelming sometimes, but no one is wrong. I feel comfortable saying the most knowledgeable people on these boards are much more knowledgeable than almost every pizzeria owner out there. Sometimes one person's valuable information conflicts with other people's valuable information, but it's still all good information. People share their ideas with you, and you get to decide whose ideas provide the best guidance for you.

Scott is the NY style guru around here. Everyone knows that. Still, sometimes we disagree with him, and sometimes we might be a little more right than he is. But much more often than not, Scott is right. And I'll tell you right now that you should trust what Scott says before you trust what I say. Also, Chau's counter to what I said a few posts back might end up changing my whole freaking pizza philosophy. It probably won't, but I remain open to the possibility that it could. (You too, Craig.)

I understand, good point.

All commenting here are both extremely component, and have their own methods. One method may not be empirically better than another. They could both be right. All is really good info for us all to consider.

I am trying everyone's suggestions, and success withe each one.

Yes, I believe your comment, the strong ones commenting here know more than most pizzeria owners, including yourself.

One really great lesson that's just begging for you to learn right now, Philip, is the fact that nothing anyone says here is necessarily the absolute truth.

I agree with Ryan completely in concept, but I'd say it a little differently. I think everyone here is telling the absolute truth. It's just that given so many variables and that we are all in unique situations, things don't always work the same way for different folks.

Logged

"We make great pizza, with sourdough when we can, commercial yeast when we must, but always great pizza."Craig's Neapolitan Garage

re folks wondering why adding ascorbic acid doesn't seem to affect dough qualities - when ascorbic acid is used as a maturing agent at the mills, it is added in tiny amounts, mechanical mixers assure that it is well-distributed, and there are considerations of time, and probably a bunch of other environmental factors as well, that go into producing the desired maturing effect (eg stronger gluten development).

Merely adding some at the point of baking isn't going to have the same result.

I also would not recommend trying to bromate one's own flour - that is also a complicated process that doesn't lend itself to the conditions in one's home. I have no problem with bromated flour, but trying to do it at home would be extremely difficult even if you knew exactly the entire procedure used in commercial mills. Also, consider the fact that you are not applying this process to raw flour and so the effects are likely to be quite different.

Someone asked about how "bromate evaporates out" during normal baking - heat breaks down the chemical bonds that form potassium bromate. Bromine has a melting point of only 19F; its boiling point (the point at which it starts turning into a gas) is 138F. Bread is typically baked to an internal temperature of 190F to 205F. The very very tiny amount of bromine present in bromated flour will evaporate out long before the bread has completely baked, first as heat breaks the chemical bonds and releases the bromine, then as the bromine itself vaporizes. Remember that it is only something very small, in ppm (parts per million) to start with; after baking, if there's anything left at all, it'll be something in the ppb - which for all intents and purposes might as well be none.

Someone asked about how "bromate evaporates out" during normal baking - heat breaks down the chemical bonds that form potassium bromate. Bromine has a melting point of only 19F; its boiling point (the point at which it starts turning into a gas) is 138F. Bread is typically baked to an internal temperature of 190F to 205F. The very very tiny amount of bromine present in bromated flour will evaporate out long before the bread has completely baked, first as heat breaks the chemical bonds and releases the bromine, then as the bromine itself vaporizes. Remember that it is only something very small, in ppm (parts per million) to start with; after baking, if there's anything left at all, it'll be something in the ppb - which for all intents and purposes might as well be none.

That is not exactly correct. During baking, potassium bromate is reduced to potassium bromide which is not considered harmful in the finished product. At no time is there elemental bromine in the dough or bread.

2KBrO3 --[heat]--> 2KBr + 3O2

Logged

"We make great pizza, with sourdough when we can, commercial yeast when we must, but always great pizza."Craig's Neapolitan Garage